ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This story may not be reproduced in whole or in part without author's permission.

This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead (or undead), or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are a product of the author's imagination, or used fictitiously.

The following story contains erotic homosexual situations. If it is illegal for you to read this please leave now.

- Nine -

I stared up at the sleek screen in front of us as Gavin made his selection. "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat, Blake?"

"Not hungry," I said, shaking my head as I watched images of available foods slide across the monitor.

Gavin tapped the screen again before pressing his thumb to a square in the corner—paying for his meal, I assumed. "Alright," he said, winking down at me. "I'll just get you some lendoriac candy then."

I dropped my gaze to hide my blush.

Cradling me against his chest, Gavin moved down the line and picked up a tray waiting for him on the counter. "How are you liking my classes so far? Bored yet?"

"Not bored at all." I pressed my ear to the hard swell of his pectoral muscle, listening to his heartbeat. It was a new habit of mine—it didn't even occur to me to be shy about it. "I'd like to attend more, if that's okay with you."

He paused in the middle of the cafeteria, staring down at me. "Yeah?"

Everything seemed to go quiet as I looked into those bright eyes. His expression was soft somehow, and even though I didn't understand it, I felt my heart skip a beat. "Definitely. I really like—"

Someone jostled us, and those same bright eyes narrowed as they shot to the side.

I looked too, right at a beta with his gaze locked to the floor. "I-I apologize, sir."

"Meet my gaze, beta."

The man lifted his head, and my breath caught. It was one of Gavin's professors. "I'm sorry, sir," he said again, "I didn't see you."

"You didn't see me?" Gavin smirked as he moved closer to the beta. "I'm twice your size. Maybe you can explain how you missed me."

The smaller man's lips parted. "Sir..."

My hands twisted into Gavin's shirt. "Gavin."

He glanced down at me, held my gaze a long moment. Then he blew out a long breath and looked at the beta. "Carry on, professor."

The professor nodded gratefully and hurried away.

When Gavin's attention returned to me, he was all smiles. "You're too nice, Blake."

"Too nice?" I shook my head in disbelief. "It was just an accident, and you intimidated your teacher."

His smile faded. "He should have been watching where he was going."

"Look around, Gavin." I checked myself, lowered my voice. "This room is filled with Alphas. Sitting. Standing. I may be mistaken, but doesn't that make it impossible for any beta to look at anything but the floor without fear of reprisal?"

Gavin frowned, and he scanned the cafeteria. "I suppose."

"And we're standing in the middle of the room, right? Do you think he might be used to this path being clear?"

His frown deepened. "That's a good point."

I hadn't expected him to agree with me, and I stopped short.

That sly grin returned as he placed his tray on a nearby table. "You're still too nice, though."

It was impossible to stay serious around Gavin for any length of time, and I chuckled softly.

Tall. Up to about Gavin's chest. She wore a hot pink sleeveless vest and formfitting black pants, and the muscles of her body were long and sleek, hard and strong. Her blond hair flowed down to her waist in golden, shimmering waves.

The female Alphas were as stunning as the male ones, it seemed.

She stopped just short of hugging him, staring down at me. "You brought your toy? Let's see him!"

Gavin's thumb caressed my back as he gently set me on the tabletop. "Blake, this is Soria. We grew up together." His hand reluctantly slid from my body. "Soria, this is Blake."

Soria cooed as she bent close to the table. "Oh, he's cute." She straightened and winked at Gavin. "Not as cute as mine, though."

She gently swung her backpack to the front, and my eyebrows lifted when I saw what looked like a child's safety seat hanging from one of the straps from a gleaming silver chain. And a human being was strapped securely to it.

Oh, please god, I thought, don't let that thing give Gavin any ideas.

Soria carefully unfastened the chair straps and lifted her toy out of it. "I asked her to twirl for me on my nightstand this morning, and she fell off." She placed the woman on the table next to me. "She's broken. Pretty badly, I think. I would have left her home, but I thought some of the beta profs might know what to do with her. They didn't have any answers."

I stared at the woman, pale and trembling as she sat next to Gavin's tray. "Hi there," I said softly.

Clutching her left arm close to her body, she shuddered as if just the idea of speaking gave her pain. "H-Hi."

It was pretty obvious what was wrong with her. She was wearing a loose skirt, and a tube top sort of thing that she'd probably managed to step into and pull up just enough to cover her breasts. She'd have to do it that way, given her injury and her inability to raise her left arm.

"I'm Blake." I knelt beside her. "Banged up your shoulder, did you?"

"J-Jenny," she said, making a soft, mewling sound when she tried to touch her shoulder. "I was...stupid. I still don't know how I slipped."

"That hardly makes you stupid. Accidents happen." I glanced up at Blake and Soria, who were talking softly with each other as they stared at their PDA screens. Probably searching through the Earther Manual.

I knew firsthand how useful that thing was.

"Mind if I take a look at it?" I asked, easing closer to her. "I'm a doctor."

"Y-You are?" she asked, her eyes welling with tears. "Oh wow, are you Jack's Blake?"

Jack's Blake. I glanced up at Gavin, but he didn't appear to be paying attention. Small blessing, considering his tendency toward electric jealousy.

The top of her shoulder was flat instead of curved, so I knew one issue already. But there were other things I had to check as well. "I know it's hard because it feels like your arm is going to fall off, but I need you to let it go." I grasped her left elbow and forearm, showing her I could hold it steady. "Trust me?"

Biting her lip, she released her left arm.

"That's it. Can you wiggle your fingers?"

She managed it without too much trouble. That was a good sign. "This happened this morning? Do you have any numbness in your neck, shoulder, or arm?"

An exhausted chuckled escaped her. "I wish."

I grinned, examining her the best I could under the circumstances. The area around her shoulder was swollen and bruised, but that was to be expected. No numbness was good. "You dressed yourself after getting hurt?"

Jenny groaned. "It's really obvious, isn't it? I look that bad."

"Quite the contrary." I looked into her eyes. Pretty. Green. "I'm amazed you managed it at all with the pain you must be in."

"Yes, well, no way was I going to come to school naked." She gave me a shaky smile. "That was the worst dream ever when I was a teenager."

Having a sense of humor after all she'd been through was also a good sign. "Jenny, your shoulder is dislocated. I can't tell for sure without an X-Ray, but I don't think anything is broken."

"Th-That's good, right?"

"Well," I breathed a heavy sigh, "I'd say it's the best we can hope for right now. Think you can let me set it?"

"What do I have to do?"

I placed a gentle hand on her back. "Lie flat."

She leaned back, letting me give her extra support as I guided her to the table. "Is it going to hurt?" she whispered.

God, how I wished I had the proper facilities. "Your shoulder's been separated for a long time. You have quite a bit of swelling and bruising." I shook my head. "Usually in this situation I'd give you a muscle relaxant and maybe even a local anesthetic. We don't have access to any of that here."

"So it is going to hurt."

"Afraid so. But you're a brave girl," I smoothed the hair from her face and tweaked her nose, "you'll get through it. And I guarantee you'll feel a lot better once everything's where it's supposed to be."

Jenny giggled. "Jack was right—you are a pediatrician."

I paused, then let my mouth curve in a little smile. "Sorry, years of practice. I can try and treat you more like an adult, if you want."

"No." That thankful shimmer of tears reappeared in her green eyes. "I-I could use a little extra care right now."

"Not a problem." I took her left hand, and she squeezed on my fingers. "No, don't do that. Relax, and let me do all the work, okay?"

Bit by bit, her fingers loosened.

I slid my other hand beneath her elbow. Slowly, waiting for each spasm to pass before pushing farther, I began to turn her forearm away from her body. "What did you do on Earth?"

She blew out a shaky breath, but answered me. "I was a dancer."

"Wow," I said, continuing to move her arm. "Were you famous?"

Jenny laughed, just a little. "No, but I think I was getting close."

"So the twirling Soria was having you do, that was...?"

"Thirty-two fouettés en tournant."

I chuckled, keeping my eyes on hers. "I have no idea what that is."

"It's a spin where one foot's flat on the floor as the other leg whips around. You raise the flat foot en pointe while touching the other foot to your knee. All the while you're turning and turning. If you can do thirty-two without moving from your starting point, then you're pretty much the bee's knees."

My eyes crinkled at the corners. "I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"That's okay." She took a deep breath. "I'm not so good at explaining it. Maybe sometime I can just show—" Her skin went white as her eyes rounded.

The angle of the forearm I'd been moving reached thirty-five degrees, and the humerus popped into its joint socket.

Jenny screamed.

Leaning forward, holding her still, I kept my voice as calm and comforting as I could. "Take a deep breath. The pain will pass in a—"

A giant hand batted me away from her.

The world pitched as I rolled head over feet, unable to stop my momentum. Then another hand gently caught me, drew me against a familiar body.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" growled Gavin.

Soria sounded just as angry. I couldn't quite focus on her because my vision was still spinning. All I could see were swirls of pink, gold, and black. "You saw it, Gavin! He hurt my toy!"

"Blake would never hurt anybody! He's a doctor."

"What the hell is a doctor?"

Gavin drew me higher, his voice dropping as he held me against his heart. "He's an Earther who fixes other Earthers."

My vision cleared just in time to see Soria's fist clench. "If he fixes other toys, then why did mine scream when he touched her?"

Jenny's soft voice floated into the tension. "Soria."

Soria whipped around and knelt by the table. "Yes?"

Still lying on her back, she gingerly touched her set shoulder. "He had to do it that way, and it really hurt, but now I'm feeling so much better."

"Worst part's definitely over." I eased her left hand to her stomach, guided her right hand to cover the left. "I'm going to help you to sit up, now. Do your best to keep your arm still."

Jenny nodded, and I slid my arm under back, helping her up. She winced at the movement, and Soria stiffened, but Jenny was fine.

"You're going to have to keep that shoulder immobilized for at least three weeks, understand?"

"How—"

I glanced down at my scrubs. I'd worn them so often that the seams at the side were slowly unraveling. "I'm going to make you a sling. It won't be pretty, but it should do the job." Saying a silent goodbye to my shirt, I grabbed the hem on both sides of the seams and gave the material a sharp jerk, popping them apart.

"No choice," I murmured, concentrating on tearing a wide, even strip from the bottom of my shirt. "I need the cloth."

"I can get you some," he said, reaching for his own sleeve.

"Won't work." When I had what I needed, I looped part of it under Jenny's elbow and began to tie the ends behind her neck, pausing every once in a while to make sure it was secure at the length it needed to be. "The material of your clothing is too tough—I wouldn't be able to work with it."

Both Soria and Gavin straightened, their eyes never leaving us.

"He's so nice to Jenny," said Soria, a note of regret in her voice. "Even after I hit him."

Gavin crossed his arms over his chest, sounding none too happy. "That's just the way he is. Blake cares about everyone." He blew out a hard breath. "He used to work in this crazy room where all kinds of broken Earthers never stopped streaming in. He was in charge of the kids, and once they brought in a broken little girl. She was really twisted up."

My fingers paused as memories of that day flooded me. Then I tried to shut Gavin out so I could focus on my patient.

But I was never any good at shutting out Gavin.

"Blake worked for hours on her, even after the other Earthers told him there was no point. He just wouldn't stop. And he kept talking to her, even though I don't think she could hear him. By the end of it he was covered in her blood, but she never woke up." Gavin's voice dropped low, his arms fell to his sides. "The other doctors told him there was nothing he could have done, but he...he cried. Then he went home and tried to drink himself to death."

My hands trembled, and I forced them calm as I tore another strip of material out of my shirt. That had been... That had been years ago. I'd ended up leaving the ER because of it, and I never talked about it.

But Gavin had watched me live the worst days of my life.

Jenny ducked her head. "Are you okay?"

I glanced up and grinned. "I'm fine."

She smiled back at me, her bright eyes sparkling. "You're not an alcoholic, are you? If so, I'm afraid I'm going to have to find a different doctor."

My grin warmed. "I'm not, although there were a few days there where I tried really, really hard to become one."

Jenny laughed. "I can see why GI Joe likes you so much."

"GI Joe?"

"Jack—that's the type of toy he is."

My hand shot to my mouth as I tried to stifle my own laughter. "Does he know you call him that?"

"Oh yeah, I try to match up all the toys to ones I know."

"And which one are you?"

"Can't you tell?" She fluttered her eyes at me. "I'm Ballerina Barbie."

Too cute. Come to think of it, Lucas and Gavin had talked about Soria buying a house for her toy. "You live in a Dream House."

"Yep, as any good Barbie doll should." She sighed. "It's not a bad place to hang your hat, even if it is bright pink."

"Which toy am I?"

Jenny paused. "You know, I'm not sure. A lot of kids play doctor, but I don't think a lot play [i] with [/i] doctors. I'll have to think on that."

It had never occurred to me what criteria might be used in picking out an Earther toy, but Jenny had a point. She and Jack were archetypes of classic toys. What was I?

Shaking off the question for now, I looked up at Soria. "Jenny should be able to slip in and out of the sling by herself, but this part," I held up the second strip of material, "will need a second person, so watch carefully, alright?"

Soria sat in the chair closest to her toy and nodded.

I returned my attention to Jenny. "Lift your right arm straight up in the air."

She did as told, and I looped the cloth around her left arm, adjusting the band against her triceps. Then I moved to her other side and tied off the strip at her ribs. "Is this too tight?"

Jenny shook her head. "It feels, uh, safe. If that makes sense."

"That's exactly how it should feel." I settled back and she lowered her arm. "You'll need to ice your shoulder four times a day for the first 72 hours. You can make a good pack by wrapping some ice chips in cloth, and placing it against your shoulder for twenty minutes each time. Follow so far?"

"I-I think so."

I glanced up at Soria.

"Memorized," she said, answering my unspoken question.

"Alright," I turned back to my patient. "After the first 72 hours, heat's the way to go. The best thing I can think of here is...a warm bath. Or heating up a towel in water and using it as a compress. I don't have any painkillers to give you, but that'll go a long way in making you more comfortable." I paused, glanced up at my Alpha. "Can I see her again in three weeks?"

His mouth crooked. "Sure."

My body relaxed. "I'll see you again in three weeks and give you some light exercises to do then. You should be good as new in six to eight weeks."

"Thank you," Jenny whispered. "Wish I could pay for your services."

"You can show me that thirty-two spin thing once you're better." I tweaked her nose again. "When we're both safely on the floor."

Color began to return to her skin, making her look healthier already. "Jack was right. You really are a great doctor."

I glanced away, rubbed the back of my neck. I was too embarrassed to admit how good getting to treat her had been for me, especially given how much pain she'd been in. "I try."

But she didn't have to know, did she? For the first time in weeks, I'd felt complete.

*****

I pulled the toothbrush out of my mouth and bent over Gavin's sink to spit.

A giant glob of saliva and toothpaste landed on the back of my head, with enough force that I almost tipped into the basin.

"Oh shit!" said Gavin, catching me and dropping his toothbrush to grab a towel. "Sorry about that, Blake."

I shot him a dark look as he toweled me off. "You'd think we'd have this down by now."

His teeth clenched as he tried to hold back his laughter.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a corner of the towel and cleaned paste out of my ears.

Gavin turned on the water and rinsed his mouth out. Then he changed the flow to a trickle and held me near it so I could do the same. "Really am sorry."

"Mmhmm." I tipped my head back to gargle a bit, then spit.

His laughter faded as each of his fingers slid over my hair. "You were pretty amazing today, fixing that other toy."

My gaze dipped, and I reached forward, just barely managing to skim my fingertips against his nipple. "Thanks."

The entire pectoral muscle jumped, before he lifted me away from it and held me level with his eyes. "And I know you're not the sort to make trouble for anyone, but I really need the truth. Did Soria hurt you today?"

He was still thinking about that? "It was just a little tumble, Gavin. I'm fine."

"Alright," he murmured, looking me over. "I won't have to take action, then."

My brow furrowed. "Action?"

"It's a crime to damage an Alpha's toy. If she'd hurt you, I would have..." Gavin let the sentence trail, shaking his head.

Those glimpses of ruthlessness were not a little frightening, and I wracked my mind for something to say. "You keep making fun of me for being too nice, but you know what?" I grinned. "I don't think you're nice enough."

His serious expression vanished as he chuckled. "Good thing we have each other."

"I suppose it's all about balance," I breathed.

Gavin turned to leave the bathroom. "Bedtime."

Relieved, I stretched my body. "Good, I'm wiped out."

"Blake," he said, blue eyes sparking, "I'm not lettin' you sleep just yet."

My eyes rounded. "O-Oh."

Sly smile curving his lips, he tossed me onto the mattress. Gavin stripped his clothing, his tanned, hard muscles bunching and rolling as he crawled into bed after me. "This was the best fucking school day ever."

His mouth descended, and I arched my back as I groaned. Shit, he was right.